Michigan: Budget Lacks Hepatitis C Funds for Inmates

From CDC National Prevention Information Network

October 6, 2005

Michigan's 2005-2006 budget, which took effect Saturday, cut $1 million in funding that would have been used to test and treat prisoners for hepatitis C. The action effectively kills the state's plan to fight the virus in its prisons. The program would have surveyed inmates at intake, testing those most at risk, as recommended by CDC. A 2003 Lansing State Journal investigation reported that up to 18,000 of the state's 48,000 inmates were believed to be infected, of whom only 55 were in treatment. Corrections department officials have said it would cost $130 million a year to treat every infected inmate.

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